Come Dawn or Darkness

The festivities were fully underway as the group walked to the staging grounds in town square. Twilight had been hesitant as to just how they should enter, hoping that the presence of her newest companion would not cause too much of a scene. Fortunately, her initial fears, the ones revolving around mass panic breaking out at the sight of her instructor, were completely unfounded. Instead, some of the crowds merely stared and whispered to each other before going back to what they were doing before spotting that bizarre sight.

She soon found out that this had been Pinkie's doing. Her overly excited friend had apparently spread the word to every citizen she had come in contact with over the last week that Twilight had befriended some weird monster and was bringing him to the festival. What Twilight had assumed was a secret only she, her friends, and the Princesses were aware of was in fact common knowledge throughout all of Ponyville.

Thankfully, the older citizens kept their curiosity to simple stares. Some of the younger festival-goers, however, were not satisfied merely observing at a distance. Three anxious-looking little fillies came running around a corner as the group approached the center of town, hoping to get closer glimpse of the strange creature Twilight had brought, and nearly ended up running headlong into Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The Cutie Mark Crusaders came to a screeching halt only inches away from the group, falling to the ground as they stopped.

"And just what in the hay are you three up to?" Applejack addressed all three of them, but was staring directly at Apple Bloom when she said it.

"Oh, uh, sorry sis. We were, um, we were just looking for, uh-"

"Looking for you guys!" Scootaloo moved in front of her, blocking her from Applejack's glare. "And, well... here you are! So I guess we're all set here, right girls? Let's head back to the festival."

"But I thought we were going to get a closer look at the monster!" Sweetie Bell looked thoroughly confused by the entire chain of events, and was clearly disappointed that they had to leave with their curiosity unsatiated.

Rainbow Dash seemed amused by this response, but Twilight clearly didn't find it funny. "If you mean Torrent, I can assure you he's not a monster. He's just not a pony; he's from a very far-away place, one where everyone looks like he does. If anything, you and I probably seem like monsters to him. So trust me, there's nothing scary to see here."

Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Spike continued on toward the center of town, clearly uninterested in the Crusaders latest bit of mischief. "Don't go too hard on them Twilight," Spike said as he walked past. "Its an easy mistake to make. Anyway, catch up with us when your done, Rarity says she needs to find us all a spot before the good ones are taken."

She let them go, there was little point in doing anything else. "Yeah, you guys go on ahead, we'll meet you there in a minute." As she finished speaking she felt cold metallic cloth brush against her. Her teacher had made his way up from the back of their little group in complete silence, now standing beside her as if he had been the the whole time.

He peered down at the Crusaders from beneath his hood; his long cloak wrapping itself about his body, seemingly of their own accord. "Miss Sparkle is correct, I'm afraid. There's not much to me that would be able to strike fear into anyone's heart. So sorry to disappoint you girls."

The three simply stared up at him, trying to make sense of what it was that they were looking at. Sweetie Bell was the first to speak up, still disappointed by the lack of terror in the air. "So you really aren't monster? Hmph! You guys said we were going to see something scary." She looked at Apple Bloom for a response, but it was Scootaloo who replied first.

"Well, I was just going with what others were saying. Apple Bloom, you told me he was going to be something scary!" Now they were both staring her down.

"Well, I-I didn't know! I was just going' on what Pinkie Pie told me!" This time it was Twilight whose eyes narrowed into a glare, only pointed at Pinkie rather than Apple Bloom. Pinkie merely shrugged and did her best to look as innocent and uninvolved in the situation as possible.

"Well, again, I am very sorry to disappoint you three. Believe me, if I were a monster, I'd be more than happy to try scaring you out of your wits... But, alas, I'm just a harmless, unintimidating, totally-not-a-monster man from a very far away place, like Twilight said..." He began to walk toward the back of the group again, but turned back to look at them one last time. As he did, his eyes began to glow dark red, immediately grabbing the Crusaders' attention. Pinkie stepped away and Rainbow Dash took to the air, both making room for what they knew was about to happen.

A second later, the sky darkened as a sudden gust of wind brought a black cloud over their heads. Lightning crackled down from it as the creature standing before them suddenly sprouted great, bat-like wings. Another flash of lightning, and two pairs of horns suddenly appeared on his head, piercing through his hood. One pair curved out and around his face, while the other pair extended up from the top of his head, their pointed tips nearly touching above his hood. He took one lurching step forward and spread his cloak out around him, revealing long, sharp talons where his hands should have been. Two voices came from the creature beneath the hood, distorted slightly as they fell in and out of synchronization. "Nothing. To be. Afraid. Of... No. Certainly... Not...."

As he took another step forward, placing himself directly behind Twilight, a sudden burst of laughter broke forth from the cloud, ruining the entire mood. "HAHAYou-You should see the looks on your faces right now! Their, hahaha, their priceless HAHAHA!" Rainbow Dash gave the cloud one last good kick, releasing a final flash of lightning. In that blinding burst of lit, Torrent's illusion faded into a haze of black mist around his head, back, and hands, all of which were now their proper size and shape once more. Rainbow Dash pushed the cloud back where she had found it, once more revealing the rise of a bright, nearly-full moon which lit up the evening sky as if it were still day time.

"So was that scary enough for you three?" Twilight had a look of sincere contentment on her face; Rainbow and Pinkie's face were too distorted by their efforts to hold back more laughter to tell what they were feeling. "Will you be able to go and enjoy the festival now without having to try sneaking peaks at my our guest through the entire night?" Her words were serious, but soft. She had only had the evening's best intentions at heart after all.

The three fillies were still huddled together, staring wide-eyed at Torrent's non-glowing eyes underneath his untorn hood. "Nothing to be afraid of at all. Just a little trick I picked up in my travels. We thought you might enjoy a good scare, given the season and all... Was it a bit too much?" his voice was back to normal and a sense of genuine concern hung in his words.

The the continued to stare up at him, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo vaguely nodding their heads at the question. Finally, Sweetie Bell spoke up for the three of them. "Eh, it could have been scarier." The other two switched their gaze to her and simply stared. "...What? I thought he'd be a lot bigger than that. Pinkie SAID he was some kind of monster, I just figured he'd be giant."

They left the Crusaders sitting there with their thoughts and continued on their way toward the festival, Rainbow Dash still laughing to herself as they walked. They came within view of the crowd a moment later; a gathering of nearly everyone in town, all taking their places around a series of long tables. At the head of those was a large wooden dais, below which a line of citizens were making their way up to be graced by the Princesses presence and welcome them to the little town. Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Spike had already had already claimed a line of spots toward the front of one table. They were greeted by another small sea of stares and whispers as they approached the dais. Twilight shrugged it off calmly enough, but inside she was less than confident that this had been a good idea after all.